Fuzhou October 2014

Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute
Amity Report October 2014
Altrusa International of Longview-Kelso Foundation
working together with Amity Foundation in China
FUZHOU SWI
STAFF & FACTS
Director: Zhou Ling
Institute Vice Director:
Zhou Youping
Head of Children’s Dept.:
Fu Suhua
Total Number of Children
Sponsored: 11
2014 adoptions: 3
Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute
No. 1688 Wenchang Avenue
Fuzhou, Jiangxi
34400
[email protected]
Altrusa Foundation, working together with Amity Foundation in
China, is providing foster care support for 11 children at Fuzhou.
In all, 120 children reside at the Institute itself. Sixty live in foster
families, and around 50 live at the orphanage. Besides the 11
foster kids, Altrusa also supports two Hugging Grandmas and two
school sponsorships.
The orphanage is opening a new rehab facility in December (lower
left). At the children’s residence (below right) a new group home
is about to open. They are hiring kind couples to ‘parent’ six
children, with five ‘families’ to a floor.
Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute
Amity Report October 2014
page 2
Hugging Grannies
Grandma Du Zaoling has completed her first year at
the Institute, and now completely understands an
Amity Grandma's duty. She often talks with Grandma
Liu, her partner, about how to help these disabled
children with their rehabilitation. In her work she
helps these children with their physical rehabilitation
and teaches them to know the world. She often plays
with children to improve relationships with them, so
now children are very familiar with Grandma Du. The
children love Grandma Du very much. Grandma Du
also teaches children how to express their emotions,
because she believes this is a vital part in life. So does
Grandma Du in everyday life: she hugs and kisses
children to express her affection to them; she praises
children when they work well because she knows
encouragement makes children happy as well as builds
their confidence.
Grandma Liu Pinghua works half days
during the week to give children early
intervention. Especially in children with
cerebral palsy, the earlier they get
rehabilitation training, the better the result
is. Grandma Liu gives each children specific
rehabilitation training. She tries to make
the challenging, repetitive work fun,
creating games for each exercise. Helping
children is a long and difficult process.
Although children often make slow
progress in their training, Grandma Liu is
always pleased with the smallest progress.
Grandma Liu always communicates with children with a smile on her face, and her smile
makes children feel relaxed and cheerful.
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Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute
Amity Report October 2014
page 3
A Few of Our Foster Children
G. is five and has cerebral palsy. Now that he has learned to walk, he
likes to try and walk on his own. Although he can’t walk steadily, there
is still some progress compared with his former performance. He can
now walk a long way. When the family took him to the neighbor, he
could walk back to his own home by himself. G.cannot speak very well,
but can understand the words of the adults. When talking with the
adults, he can respond with “em...em” when he understands, or nods
his head, and shakes his head when he doesn’t understand.
N. is eight years old, and she is blind. She has spent some time
becoming familiar with the places around her home, and
gradually has become willing to go outside to play by herself.
Sometimes she goes to a new place and finds her way home
with the help of the family. N. cannot speak now, but can
understand some words of the adults. She mumbles to herself
in daily life. She likes listening to music and sings some tunes to
herself at home. She needs help from adults in dressing and
bathing; she will cooperate by lifting up her arms.
F.X. has cerebral palsy and cognitive development delay; she
is 15. She has gained much weight in the last six months; she
likes mutton soup, and can have two bowls of rice at each
meal. F.X. is developing skills for independence. Her foster
mother teaches her in daily life. Although sometimes she
forgets what her foster mother has taught, her foster mother
always teaches her patiently every time. F.X. has some
understanding of shopping. Now she knows she should take
her purchases only after Grandma pays the money, and she
likes asking Grandma for money to buy food in the market
herself.
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Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute
Amity Report October 2014
page 3
A Few More of Our Foster Children
Six-yearold G.
can walk
more
independently
now; he
is blind.
When he
wants to
go out to
play, he
can do
that
himself,
and can walk
back on his own at meal time when called by his
foster Grandma. G. is developing his ability to
care for himself. Now he can pull off his trousers
by himself. He can put on slippers, but cannot
distinguish left and right until Grandma helps
remind him. His appetite is good, though he still
needs adults to feed him rice, and he sleeps well
every night.
X. is nine, and she has cerebral palsy. Her appetite
is good. She needs to be feed by an adult when
having meals, but can eat by herself when having
snacks and fruits. X. recognizes her family
members. She looks at her mother’s face
sometimes when mother is talking to her, but is
too shy to look at strangers when they talk to her.
Her legs are a little stiff and cannot move flexibly.
She cannot stand. Her expression is developing
gradually, and now she can say “Ye,” or
“Grandpa.”
F.C.’s health has improved since our last visit, despite
his cerebral palsy. At three, he can walk steadily on
his own now, and can also run and jump. He has
become more outgoing, and likes laughing and
speaking to others. He likes going out and playing
with other children more. There is no problem with
his basic communication with others, which involves
5 to 7 sentences. He can eat and dress himself, but
still needs the help of adults to take showers. His
appetite is good and he sleeps well.
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Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute
Amity Report October 2014
page 4
Our Sponsored Students
This handsome guy is 10 years old, and attends
Fuzhou’s Special Education School because he is deaf.
F.S. used to depend on his elder brother for help in
everyday life, but now his elder brother is away at
school, so F.S. is beginning to adjust and become
more independent. For instance, he is learning to
wash his own clothes. Sometimes his state of mind is
not very stable. Not so long ago he didn't study very
attentively in class because he was not in the mood,
but with teachers' care and instruction, he is now
studying much more attentively. There are fewer
than ten students in his class, with whom he gets on
very well. After class, he communicates with them
with sign language. Now he is studying Chinese,
maths, and painting class, which he enjoys.
Our other student, F.W., is taking a break from school
right now. He started grade six in September, but
returned to the orphanage not long ago. He thinks
the courses in grade six are similar to those in grade
five, and as there is no junior high section of the
school, he doesn’t want to go to school. However,
Fuzhou has no other special school for him to choose.
Now he is offering some assistance in the cafeteria in
the orphanage. During this period the orphanage
staff is communicating with him, to enlighten and
direct him, and let him rethink. If he is willing to
study other knowledge or has any other ideas, he can
talk to the people in the orphanage. They will try as
hard as possible to meet his needs.
Three ways to donate.
CHECK. Mail to:
Altrusa Foundation
Attn: Peggy Gurrad
PO Box 1354
Longview, WA 98632
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click here or go to:
www.altrusa.info
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[email protected] to take you
to the Altrusa account. Please
add 3% to cover fees, or choose
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